Constitutional Law

Alleged Ethics Violations Investigated at DOJ

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) is in the final stage of investigating Bush administration attorneys for ethics violations. Prominent among those under scrutiny are so-called "torture memo" authors Jay Bybee and John Yoo. Newsweek reports that Bybee and Yoo, "who approved the legal justification for waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics," may be anxious about the next steps of the investigation.

A draft of the OPR report submitted during the final weeks of the Bush administration is said to have "sharply criticized" Bybee, Yoo and Steven Bradbury, former chief of the Office of Legal Counsel, according to those leaking information to Newsweek. In a final draft, soon to be presented to Attorney General Eric Holder, debate is ongoing as to whether responses from the three central subjects of the report should be included.

Upon acceptance of the findings by Holder, the report could form the basis of disciplinary actions by state bar associations against those found to have acted inconsistently with professional standards for attorneys.

Full post as published by ACS Blog on February 16, 2009 (boomark / email).